State of Independents

This post, by Dylan Matthews, a guest blogger filling in for the vacationing Ezra Klein, captures what I've long suspected about the so-called "independent" vote, and how crucial it allegedly is to the political process.

Rather than a voting bloc that's true to its name, the independent vote is quite partisan, yet likes to consider itself more broad-minded than a narrow definition like Democrat or Republican (never mind the fact that those definitions also include wider band width, such as 'moderate' or 'progressive.')

Given the analysis, Obama's "outreach" to Republicans seems to be more about helping out the aforementioned moderate Democrats than bridging the apparently insurmountable gap between the two parties.